Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize
That’s the advice that I received during the first specialist consultation for my baby’s eczema in 2010, and I’m still sticking to it after ten years.
What should I do? What moisturizer to use?
I suppose we all started our journey of parenting eczema kids asking these questions. And the advice from my daughter’s doctor (Prof Hugo, who later co-authored with me Living with Eczema: Mom Asks, Doc Answers) is ‘Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize’. Followed by, ‘You Can’t Moisturize too Much’.
Our Selection of Moisturizers
So, what moisturizer to use?
I did ask this question, and Prof Hugo’s answer was the one that your child likes, and you can afford to use it generously.
And, my child does have preferences. Here’s the timeline of the moisturizers which we have tried, and honestly, we haven’t tried that many because we are the if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it kind of person.
Qv cream
Frequent, almost daily use. From 2010 to date. The main plus point is its price point! I don’t think it’s the best moisturizer in terms of ingredients but it does its work of keeping moisture in and skin hydrated. For the past ten years, we have used it for at least 5 years and there was once when it didn’t seem to work as rashes appeared and skin seemed dry. We then switched to a more expensive cream like Physiogel but has since re-incorporated QV cream back into our staple of creams. We do not use QV lotion though as its effect is not long lasting enough for our dry skin > Read full review
physiogel ai cream
Soon after, at the advice of a GP (who still is our GP!), we tried Physiogel AI. It contains ingredients that can replenish skin lipids, therefore, more effective in hydrating dry skin. The only negative about it is its price. At $35 for 100ml, it may not be a cream which you can generously use twice a day for your whole body. I think we use it more frequently when our daughter was a baby, since her surface area was smaller then! However, we use Physiogel AI lotion daily – typically as a first layer over dry skin, and then ‘seal’ with a thicker less expensive cream > Read full review
QV lotion
physiogel ai lotion
physiogel cream
Since Physiogel AI worked well but was too costly for frequent use, we tried ‘downgrading’ to Physiogel cream. It still contains lipids such as triglyceride, and long lasting enough. We used this for quite a few years, in particular, when using the cheaper QV cream alone didn’t work so well after continued use > Read full review
california baby eczema cream
Given all the marketing on organic and natural product, we tried California Baby. It didn’t seem to be long lasting and felt a little itchy after use. We stopped just after using once and threw the bottle away. Some of the reviews on Amazon were positive, while others feedback caused rashes.
Burt’s Bees moisturizing cream
We tried another natural cream that was a gift from friends. It could be that the product was expiring, and therefore had bacteria growth (or she was sensitive to one of the natural ingredients), my daughter’s skin looked more inflamed and itchy after a single use on her leg. As with California Baby, we threw it away. Some of the Amazon reviews also mentioned skin irritation.
Curel japan intensive moisture
I was actually asked to review this cream when it was first launched in Singapore. However, I was kind of averse to doing product review and declined. Subsequently, free samples of it was given out during an eczema patient session and I tried it out on my daughter. It was very smooth and creamy feel, but given the cost of $24 for 120ml, we decided to continue using cheaper alternatives that also worked.
bioderma atoderm pp baume
My daughter had fungal infection, and around the same time, the eczema rashes started to flare up, with thickened skin and dark scabs. We decided to re-visit a dermatologist (something that we hadn’t required since 1-year old!). The dermatologist recommended Bioderma, the dermatologist’s range. While that worked well, it was not available at regular pharmacy and we tried the Atoderm normal range which also worked.
However, half a year later (at around the start of fourth grade), my daughter’s skin started to rash. It could be that her classroom was at the top floor and sun-facing. In any case, we stopped Bioderma for a while to switch back to Physiogel AI, and currently re-incorporated Bioderma Creme to our staple of creams > Read full review
aveeno eczema therapy
We decided to try out Aveeno because its sunscreen is value-for-money and really sun protective. Personally, Aveeno’s eczema therapy moisturising cream feels very moisturizing. However, my daughter doesn’t like it as it feels greasy to her. > Read full review
The above completes our ten-year experimentation and use of moisturizers. There are some others like Ceradan and probiotic skincare lotion which are not available outside of Asia. There are a lot of posts that cover moisturizers – key ones are:
You know what will be really useful? For you to share your moisturizer journey in the comments or in the forum post that I’ve created for this. Another parent reading this can be spared from trying a cream that didn’t work.
9 replies on “The One Advice from Specialist”
Thanks Khaled for dropping by my blog and glad you found something that works for you!
Mei
do you have eczima on your hands??it hurts when you wash your hands??what i do for my plquuae psoriasis(similar to your condiditon)is use tea tree shampoo, to wash my hands yupppit works best, ask around,you may be able to find a sample size at a salon, it’s a little trouble, but for a big relief..i love it, as the lady in front of me say something about oats,, well st.ives makes an oatmeal and shea butter lotion. it’s formulated to keep your skin moisturized and nourished in the swiss alps.. SOO GOOD.i would die with out that lotion.References : my hands
Yes Summer! Moisturizing is very important, even in humid weather. Our child’s skin barrier is defective (one of the cause of eczema) and thus needs to be protected through moisturizing and sunscreen. Click on the eczema topics on the right sidebar and find a topic to learn more 🙂 I’m always learning, especially as I’ve committed to myself to provide useful info for everyone!
Despite the humid weather in Singapore, we have to moisturise our little one often? (i’m sorry if i sound awfully clueless).
Nope, I haven’t tried sebamed before. I’ve written a few posts on lotions, maybe you can refer to them if you’re checking out the ingredients.
How Much Moisturizing is Enough
3 Good Skincare Tips/a>
What moisturizer to use
Hmm maybe he was also hungry n tired at the time..so I couldnt tell if it was the lotion or others…..
Btw did u try before baby sebamed lotion?
my baby has eczema too… before i know it, i use sebamed lotion, but her skin turns red each time i put the lotion, so i stop it and now im using physiogel (as suggested by the skin doctor)
Hi Nicole, I’m sorry to hear that your baby was crying when lotion was applied. Physiogel has worked very well for my baby and so far, I haven’t heard of any adverse effect of applying it. Take care.
Can I check if physiogel lotion has a tickling effect after applying it on bb’s skin? I tried to apply it on his skin and he was screaming n crying v loud. His skin was inflammed ( I think coz there were red patches on his body…I read earlier in your article).